The publisher’s President stated that overdelivering on the initial release, and then following up with additional content so as to maintain player engagement should be the norm.

Amidst all the recent controversy regarding loot boxes and microtransactions, Red Dead Redemption 2 publisher Take-Two does not seem to mind including these in games as long as they drive engagement. This might be a little worrisome for eager fans awaiting a return to the Wild West with the much anticipated sequel. At a presentation at the Credit Suisse 21st Annual Technology conference, Take-Two President Karl Slatoff stated that the aim of developers should be to focus on engagement and “overdelivering” on the initial release.

Recurring consumer spending is what Take-Two seems to be targeting according to Slatoff’s words. He stated that after “overdelivering” with content, the focus must be on releasing additional content that drives engagement with the player. However, Slatoff also admitted that they’re only in the exploratory phase regarding microtransactions and that the publisher is still only “getting to know the consumer.” With the recent backlash against EA and Star Wars Battlefront II, publishers will have to keep in mind consumers’ demands of the industry.

It remains to be seen how Take-Two handles this issue going forward and hopefully, they won’t incur the wrath of the gaming community with awful lootbox and microtransaction practices.